The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of carnation plant, named Gold Metal which was originated by me by irradiating Carnation Plant, named Carrier's Fiesta, U.S. Plant patent application, Ser. No. 06/525,601, filed June 22, 1983 now U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,410.
Typically, carnation plants, botanically known as the species Dianthus caryophyllus, are very prone to fungi and root rots, and have a tendency to burst their calyx causing "splits" as the flowers open fully. The new cultivar was the result of an irradiation program to develop carnations of "new" color with greatly improved resistance to soil-borne diseases and bursting of the Calyx. I selected for irradiation a cultivar developed by me earlier, named Carrier's Fiesta, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,410, which had shown improved resistance to soil-borne diseases and splitting, and irradiated it to obtain the new cultivar, Gold Metal. The parentage of the selected Carrier's Fiesta was by cross breeding numbered but unnamed and unpatented seedlings, nursery numbers 1981 and 1743.
These objectives were fully achieved in the new cultivar. It is very much like its predecessor Carrier's Fiesta, except in color, and of all the carnation plants known to me, it is most alike in characteristics to its predecessor Carrier's Fiesta.
The principal characteristics which are outstanding in my new cultivar, and which distinguish it from its predecessor, Carrier's Fiesta, as well as from all other carnations of which I am aware are as follows:
1. Superior resistance to soil-borne diseases such as Fusarium oxysporium, and F. roseum and root-rots such as damping off, water molds, and the like;
2. Large serrated flowers which open fully without bursting the calyx and causing "splits";
3. A distinctive and attractive Gold Yellow flower color with a few marginal flecks of Nepal Red.
Asexual reproduction of my new carnation variety by side shoot cuttings rooted in peat and "Perlite" under mist, as performed under my direction and control at Encinitas, Calif., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations.